Troutbitten

• Fishing Big Rivers-- Thoughts, Tips and Strategies

  Let’s talk about fishing big rivers. For the most part, all of us here at Troutbitten are river anglers, meaning not much stillwater. Furthermore we’re mostly wade anglers. We spend most of our time wading rather than floating, because we enjoy it, and because in a lot of cases, wading gives us the best chance for success.But over the years I’ve noticed some misunderstandings about where and how we fish. I hear from a lot of reader, listeners and watchers of Troutbitten stuff. And one thing that frequently comes up is an assumption that all of our waters are small to medium sized. But that’s not true. Each of us spends plenty of time on big rivers. We all have our favorite rivers outside of this region. We’ve all traveled. And even around here, we have opportunities to fish big rivers.So, what’s big? I’ll say a big river is one that you could float. And it’s probably the kind of river where you can’t wade all of it.So we’re here to talk about fishing big water. In previous podcasts, we’ve spent some time talking about specific tactics and strategies for fishing small water, so let’s do the same for big rivers.Each of us has a few tricks and some plans for getting the most out of a big water trip. We’ve made the mistakes, and we’ve all shared among ourselves how we eventually learned to not only manage big water but have some of the best days of the season.I always say that fishing big water and fishing it well takes a lot of discipline. We talk about all of that and a lot more in this podcastMy friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell, Austin Dando and Josh Darling join me for a great discussion.ResourcesVIDEO: Troutbitten | Reading Water in Levels, Lanes and SeamsREAD: Troutbitten | Never Blame the FishREAD: Troutbitten | Fishing Big Water -- One Key TipVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

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  1:02:15
• Learn to Read the River Like a Trout

  We spend a lot of time thinking about tactics and working on techniques. We devote our energies toward finding fly patterns, tying up our confidence flies and testing new flies. We research new waters and explore unfinished sections in familiar waters. We spend a lot of time doing fishy things. This is a life on the water.The guys and I have been talking a lot about reading water. It’s one of the biggest deficiencies we see while guiding — just choosing the right piece of a river for your next cast. It's about understanding what water should receive the most attention and what water gets gets a pass.As an angler, reading the water really comes down to understanding what a trout needs. We read water for depth, speed and structure, in reference to what a trout prefers. And when we talk about reading water, we’re thinking about it all from an angler’s perspective. If you’re kayaking down a river for recreation, then how you read water will be pretty different.Everyone can pick out hydraulics and learn to read current seams. Those are the elementary building blocks of reading trout water. Then we take that knowledge and combine it with what a trout needs. And we eventually have a truly specific, knowledgeable approach to reading a river. Day to day, across the world, wherever trout live in rivers, creeks and streams, their needs are the same.My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell, Dr. Trevor Smith and Austin Dando join me for a great discussion.ResourcesVIDEO: Troutbitten | Reading Water in Levels, Lanes and SeamsPODCAST: Troutbitten | Reading Water, and Cherry Picking vs Full Coverage S1, Ep6READ: Troutbitten | Reading Water - Finding the Invisible PotholesVisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

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  1:21:34
• Know the River or Know Your Tactics? What Puts More Trout In the Net?

  Here's  a topic that starts with an interesting question: What puts more trout in the net? Is it knowing your water or knowing your tactics?Of course, the easy answer is . . . both. Refine your skills and learn your rivers. Then put all of that together, and you have a great formula, not only for catching trout but for having a lot of fun.The truth is, as frequent anglers we’re always involved in improving. It goes way beyond filling the fly box with new patterns. We know our deficiencies, and we’re working to fix them. We also know you can only really tackle one thing at a time. So if you’re out there fishing, or maybe even on the way to your next fishing trip, what are you working on? Really, what will put more fish in the net? Is it better to focus on the tactics and techniques, or is it better to learn the river itself? Basically, that means reading water better and finding fish.So we’re looking forward to this discussion. It’s a good concept, and we all have some opinions.My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell and Austin Dando join me for a great discussion.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | How Woodsmanship Catches Fish - S11, Ep6VIDEO: Troutbitten | Reading Water in Levels, Lanes and SeamsREAD: Troutbitten | Read Trout WaterREAD: Troutbitten | Fish Familiar Waters VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

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  1:13:01
• Riverside -- Twelve Small Stream Fly Casting Tips

  Here are twelve tips for delivering a fly into waters that are heavily canopied, with greedy branches, ready to grab your fly and make life difficult. The best small stream fishing happens in these places. We call it brush fishing.Learning to cast a fly on small streams forces an angler into proper form. There is no forgiveness, and every error comes with consequences.But the reward is there. Small streams demand real accuracy. We learn to punch the fly under limbs and around tree stumps. And we learn to finish the cast with intentional placement of the leader, most often with slack, sometimes laying the line over a log, rock or gravel bar.Small stream trout are often forgiving, but the environments are not. The brush demands our full attention and excellent form.Here's the VIDEO version of this podcast:VIDEO: Troutbitten | Riverside -- Twelve Small Stream Fly Casting TipsHere's the ARTICLE:READ: Troutbitten | Twelve Small Stream Fly Casting Tips VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

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  29:47
• Strategies For Stocked Trout

  Across the country, there are rivers, creeks and streams stocked by the state,  often referred to as put and take (they put trout in, you take them out). And especially early in the season, opportunities for stocked trout can be a solid choice. Other places stock fish under catch and release regs or delayed harvest. Also, some rivers, for various reasons, cannot support wild trout populations and they are entirely reliant on hatchery trout. In other places, it’s a mix of wild and stocked.Troutbitten has always been primarily focused on fishing for wild trout. Because most anglers would more often choose a wild or natural experience over a manufactured one. So I use the word, experience, because not only are stocked fish produced or raised in a hatchery, once they’re in the river, the experience of fishing for stockies is usually pretty different than fishing for wild trout. And that . . . is what we want to talk about in this conversation.In other podcasts, we’ve already talked a lot about the value differences between wild vs stocked trout. We’ve gone through the hierarchy of river trout, as we put it.So upon that foundation, in continuation of those discussions, let’s talk about how our approach changes when the trout are stocked and not wild. Let’s think about water selection, patterns, strategies, and the other things that make fishing for stocked trout more successful. What changes and what is different compared to targeting wild trout?My friends, Matt Grobe, Bill Dell and Trevor Smith, join me for a great discussion.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Wild vs Stocked - The Hierarchy of River TroutREAD: Troutbitten | When Fishing For Stocked Trout, It May Not Pay to Be AmbitiousREAD: Troutbitten | Natural vs Attractive Presentations - Convinced or Curious VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten Facebook Thanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

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  1:13:46

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